Bruising/pitting in 9ct gold

[LeighnaKing]

Hi everyone

I've recently started to play around with 9ct yellow gold, and just finished this little opal ring and stacking band. I'm pretty happy with it, but after taking the attached photo, I can see a lot of bruising/discolouration and pitting. Don't get me wrong, I quite like the effect (I'm after the organic/unearthened treasure effect) but if it's causing the gold to be weak/brittle, then I need to work out what's causing it. I'm entirely self-taught, so am certain it's something I'm just doing wrong. Could it be overheating the metal too much?

Any help or advice would be much appreciated :)

Thank you!

11616

[Dennis]

Well, it is quite difficult to decide from your picture, but wires do get like that when a small section gets overheated. Obviously, if you like the look then fair enough, but in extreme cases the shank can break there.

So: to heat wire more evenly when soldering, use a more bushy flame (with the air intake reduced), keep the flame on the move and work in subdued light, so that hot spots can be seen and quickly corrected by pulling away the flame.

I's a pretty ring, BTW. I very much like the fluted mount. Dennis.

[LeighnaKing]

I don’t imagine a bushy flame is something I’d be able to achieve with a dremel hand torch, is it? I do need to upgrade but I’m terrified of the professional setups ��

I’ll give a go to keeping the flame moving though, as I imagine I did concentrate the heat a little too much in most areas.

And thank you �� I’m pretty happy with how it came out for my first go.

[Dennis]

Leigna,
The Dremel hand torch has holes at each side of the burner. As you rotate the ring, it closes them off and makes the flame less fierce (or more bushy).
In have one and do it all the time. Dennis.

[LeighnaKing]

I’ve never noticed that before! Thank you so much for pointing that out, it’s a huge help. I’ll give it a go this weekend ��